88 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



remain in bunches over night and dragging it to the 

 stack the next day. Others take from the windrow to 

 wagons by a hay-loader, preferably one operated by a 

 belt. 



After all said and done, and regardless of thrift and 

 yield, it is unquestionable that the grower of alfalfa in 

 humid regions meets with difficulties in the matter of 

 satisfactory curing that in some years are almost or 

 quite disheartening, and of a character to which his 

 brother in arid territory is virtually a total stranger. 

 Curing in the two regions presents different prob- 

 lems, with advantage all the time favoring the man in 

 the country of little rainfall. 



One Kansas farmer in the western part of the state 

 reports that he used a self-binding harvester, shocked 

 the sheaves like those of grain, let them stand ten days 

 and then put in a mow, with no bad results. 



Second and later cuttings are not so much endangered 

 by rains as is the first, and, hence, these are usually cured 

 in better condition. Notwithstanding this, virtually all 

 tests point out that the first cutting has more feeding value 

 and is better relished by all kinds of stock. Most farmers 

 are agreed that it pays to cut every time the alfalfa 

 blooms, up to the last of September in the North, and 

 possibly a month later in the more southern latitudes. 

 A few have reported that they prefer to make but two 

 cuttings a year, claiming to realize a greater feeding 

 value by so doing; but it seems that the loss in leaves 

 and protein, together with the fact that live stock has less 

 relish for the more mature cuttings, makes frequent cut- 

 ting by far the most profitable. 



